Contextual and Educational Dimensions of EFL Teacher Engagement in Second Language Acquisition Research

This mixed methods study investigated the contextual and educational dimensions of engaging language teachers in second language acquisition (SLA) theory and research to inform second language pedagogy. To this end, 132 Iranian English teachers completed the questionnaire designed by Nassaji (2012) that includes both Likert-scale items and open-ended questions. The participants had academic degrees in majors related to English language. They constituted two groups of public sector (n=66) and private sector (n=66). Each group was divided in two sub-groups, one with Bachelors of Arts (B.A.) and the other with Master of Arts (M.A.). Quantitative data analyses revealed a significant difference between the perceptions of the participants of public and private sector with B.A and M.A. degrees towards the relevance and usefulness of SLA research, the role of teachers and researchers, and perceiving teacher as researcher. Moreover, analyzing the open-ended questions revealed instances of attitudes, motivations, and challenges experienced by the participants reflecting the need to use SLA theory and conduct research to enrich pedagogical practices, ability to conduct research, access, understanding research articles, and dealing with institutional constraints. The findings have implications for policy makers to encourage practice-oriented research courses and research-oriented practicums across both contexts of public and private sectors

Iranian EFL Teachers\u27 Perceptions of Dynamic Assessment: Exploring the Role of Education and Length of Service

The present study reports on the thematic analysis of Iranian EFL teachers\u27 perceptions of dynamic assessment in relation to their academic degree and length of service. To this end, 42 Iranian EFL teachers participated in the study. Of these teachers, 22 held BA and 20 held MA degrees in ELT-related subjects, with varying lengths of service. Semi-structured interviews were used to inquire into the teachers\u27 perceptions of dynamic assessment. The four major themes which emerged from the content analysis of the audiotaped interviews revealed significant variations in participants\u27 patterns of perceptions and concerns towards dynamic assessment. The major themes comprised of teachers\u27 understanding of dynamic assessment as a classroom practice, viewing their own agency in application of dynamic assessment, the place of learners in this practice, and their awareness about contextual constraints affecting application of dynamic assessment. Suggestions for further research as well as limitations of the study are also discussed

Investigation of Persian Handmade Carpet Brand Positioning in View of European Customer

The handmade carpet industry has a long lifetime in Iran. It was as one of important and key industries in some provinces for far decades, such that must of our export goods was carpets and rugs before oil discovery. However, handmade Persian carpet has the top position in global world market yet. Thus, this work tries to investigate the brand position of handmade Persian carpet from view of point of European customers. The research method is operational as goal. Statistical population of this research includes elites of branding and marketing of handmade carpet production in qualitative phase, and tourists and customers of some European countries in quantitative phase. Sampling method in the quantitative phase is proportional to the size of the population and based on the Cochran formula, about 384 persons were selected. The handmade carpet industry has a long lifetime in our country. It was as one of important and key industries in some provinces for far decades, such that must of our export goods was carpets and rugs before oil discovery. However, handmade Persian carpet has the top position in global world market yet. Thus, this work tries to investigate the brand position of handmade Persian carpet from view of point of European customers. The research method is operational as goal. Statistical population of this research includes elites of branding and marketing of handmade carpet production in qualitative phase, and tourists and customers of some European countries in quantitative phase. Sampling method in the quantitative phase is proportional to the size of the population and based on the Cochran formula, about 384 persons were selected

Assessing the adherence to the current guidelines in the management of syncope patients

  Background: There exist gaps in the implementation of guideline-recommended treatments and interventions to manage syncope. The present study aimed to investigate the adherence to the current guideline for the diagnosis and management of syncope patients referred to a tertiary center.  Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with the study group consisting of 324 consecutive patients, who were diagnosed with unexplained syncope with one or more attacks and were referred for head-up tilt table test (HUTT) between September 2009 and September 2011 to Tehran Heart Center. All the patients underwent a thorough evaluation, including a careful medical history and physical examination as well as a thorough history of all procedures performed before referral. The data collected was compared between patients with positive and negative HUTT results and also based on the referring physician, in order to assess the deviation from syncope guideline in their management. We compared the selected groups using a chi-square test for categorical variables and student t-test or analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous variables where appropriate.   Results: A total of 324 patients with a Mean (SD) age of 41.04 (17.74) years were enrolled in the study (158 patients, i.e. 48.8%, were male). HUTT was positive in 181 (55.8%) patients. Brain computed tomography scan and coronary angiography were performed more in the initial assessment of the patients with a negative HUTT compared with patients with negative HUTT (P=0.001 and P=0.01, respectively). Significantly higher rates of brain MRI (P=0.01), brain imaging (P=0.03), and electroencephalography (P=0.002) were observed among the neurologists' referrals while echocardiography (P<0.001), exercise tolerance test (P=0.001), electrocardiogram Holter monitoring (P<0.001), and coronary angiography (P=0.02) were significantly more performed in patients referred by a cardiologist.   Conclusion: We observed a noticeable deviation from the current guideline for the management of syncope although the patients underwent expensive tests with little benefit

Effect of Massage Using Camel Hump Oil Compared to Olive Oil on Muscle Tone of Children with Spastic Diplegia: Single Participant Design

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of massage with camel hump oil on muscle tone in the lower limb compared with olive oil on children with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy. Materials and Methods:  The study was performed using a single subject design. Six children were selected based on available sampling. The study lasted 10 weeks for each person, which includes five phases: 1-baseline (two weeks), 2-massage with olive oil (two weeks), 3- baseline (two weeks), 4- massage with camel hump oil (two weeks), and 5- baseline (two weeks). At each stage, muscle tones of Hamstring, hip adductors, and calf muscles were evaluated using the Modified Ashworth Scale. The visual analysis and Mann-whitney U test were used to evaluate differences between phases. Results: A significant difference was observed between the adductor (in 4 cases), hamstrings (in 4 cases), and calf muscles tone (in two cases) (P<0.05), demonstrating the higher effect of massage with camel hump oil compared to that with olive oil. Conclusion: It seems that camel hump oil may be more effective in some cases than olive oil in reducing muscle tone, but the overall conclusion requires further studies.Keywords: Camel hump oil; Massage; Muscle tone; Spastic diplegi

Effect of the rehabilitation program on the fatigue of patients with coronary artery diseases

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the changes in fatigue of patients with coronary artery diseases after the rehabilitation intervention based on demographic and clinical variables. Methods: This study was a single-arm clinical trial with a pre and post-intervention design. The statistical population of the study included patients with coronary artery diseases who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery or percutaneous coronary interventions, 4-6 weeks after discharge, referred to Khorramabad Cardiac Rehabilitation Center. They were selected by a purposeful sampling method. The data were collected through demographic and clinical information questionnaires and Piper Fatigue Measurement Questionnaire. Education on risk factors at home (weeks 4 and 8) was presented in the area of rehabilitation, the data were analyzed with descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS software. Results: Most of the patients were male (54.4%), married (87%), and in the age group of 47-58 years (50%). Their mean age was 54.63 ± 8.87 years, and the mean duration of heart disease in the subjects (by months) was 33.24 ± 50.84. Comparing the mean changes in fatigue after the intervention based on some influencing demographic variables of the patients, including age, gender, type of treatment, and the duration of the disease showed no significant difference (p>0.05). Conclusion: The implementation of a home cardiac rehabilitation program by nurses, as a low-cost, accessible, and feasible intervention, can be considered an effective step in reducing the fatigue of patients with coronary artery disease and should be considered by managers

Knowledge, attitude and practice of urban and ruarl households towards principles of nutrition in Iran: results of NUTRIKAP Survey.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of urban and rural households toward principles of nutrition in Iran. Methods: The study population was Iranian households who live in rural and urban areas in all provinces of the country. The sampling method at households’ level in each province was single stage cluster sampling with equal size clusters. The incumbent data was collected by a structured questionnaire and through the interview with the eligible subject in each household. Results: A total of 14,136 Iranian households were selected as total sample size, 9,149 urban households, and 4,987 rural households. Around 57.2% of urban and 49.5% of rural households was aware of food groups. Respectively in urban and rural households, about 35.1% and 39.7% had correct knowledge toward roles of food groups. Approximately 41.5% and 39.9% of households had accurate knowledge about reason of food eating in urban and rural areas, respectively. The results showed that 79.6% of them had favorable attitudes. The most of the households consumed red meat and poultry weekly whereas fish was eaten rarely. Fruits, vegetables and dairy were consumed daily in the most of households. Sugar intake was daily in the most of households and cream and butter intake was weekly. Conclusion: The most of households had moderate knowledge and good attitudes. Practice of families about food consumption was good. The results of this study can be used for proper intervention for improving of health society

Depression and anxiety symptoms are associated with white blood cell count and red cell distribution width: a sex-stratified analysis in a population-based study

Background: Depression and anxiety are two important mood disorders that are frequently associated with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Hyper-inflammation is related to both CVDs and psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety. Therefore, inflammation may partially explain the relationship between depression and cardiovascular disease. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between symptoms of depression/anxiety disorders and serum hs-CRP and inflammation linked conditions in a large Iranian population. Methods: Symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders and serum hs-CRP levels were measured in 9,759 participants (40% males and 60% females) enrolled in MASHAD study. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were evaluated with Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. According to the scores of depression and anxiety, individuals were categorized into four groups of no or minimal, low, moderate and severe categories. Results: The median serum hs-CRP concentration increased with increasing severity of depression and anxiety disorders. Male participants with severe depression had significantly higher levels of hs-CRP (p <0.001); however, this relationship was less marked among women (p = 0.04). Subjects with severe anxiety also had significantly higher levels of hs-CRP (p <0.001). Moreover, women with severe depression and anxiety had higher BMI. There was also a positive association between current smoking habit and depression/anxiety disorders. Conclusion: Depression and anxiety disorders are associated with elevated levels of hs-CRP, particularly among men. There were also a significant positive association between depression/anxiety disorders and inflammation linked conditions such as smoking and obesity; however, in the case of obesity this association was only present in women

A Prospective Study on Risk Factors for Acute Kidney Injury and All-Cause Mortality in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients From Tehran (Iran)

BackgroundSeveral reports suggested that acute kidney injury (AKI) is a relatively common occurrence in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, but its prevalence is inconsistently reported across different populations. Moreover, it is unknown whether AKI results from a direct infection of the kidney by SARS-CoV-2 or it is a consequence of the physiologic disturbances and therapies used to treat COVID-19. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of AKI since it varies by geographical settings, time periods, and populations studied and to investigate whether clinical information and laboratory findings collected at hospital admission might influence AKI incidence (and mortality) in a particular point in time during hospitalization for COVID-19.MethodsHerein we conducted a prospective longitudinal study investigating the prevalence of AKI and associated factors in 997 COVID-19 patients admitted to the Baqiyatallah general hospital of Tehran (Iran), collecting both clinical information and several dates (of: birth; hospital admission; AKI onset; ICU admission; hospital discharge; death). In order to examine how the clinical factors influenced AKI incidence and all-cause mortality during hospitalization, survival analysis using the Cox proportional-hazard models was adopted. Two separate multiple Cox regression models were fitted for each outcome (AKI and death).ResultsIn this group of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the prevalence of AKI was 28.5% and the mortality rate was 19.3%. AKI incidence was significantly enhanced by diabetes, hyperkalemia, higher levels of WBC count, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). COVID-19 patients more likely to die over the course of their hospitalization were those presenting a joint association between ICU admission with either severe COVID-19 or even mild/moderate COVID-19, hypokalemia, and higher levels of BUN, WBC, and LDH measured at hospital admission. Diabetes and comorbidities did not increase the mortality risk among these hospitalized COVID-19 patients.ConclusionsSince the majority of patients developed AKI after ICU referral and 40% of them were admitted to ICU within 2 days since hospital admission, these patients may have been already in critical clinical conditions at admission, despite being affected by a mild/moderate form of COVID-19, suggesting the need of early monitoring of these patients for the onset of eventual systemic complications

Global prevalence of suicide in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: Given that patients with cancer may commit suicide due to physical and mental problems, the present study objectives were to identify particular risk factors of different subgroup of patients including type of cancer, gender, age, type and time of suicide, and geographical region to facilitate early care and psychosocial support. Methods: A comprehensive review of databases including Embase, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science was conducted for original articles published in English from January 2000 to March 2022. It is based on the PRISMA checklist. Results: After reviewing 69 articles selected from 15 countries, the total prevalence rate of suicide among 34,157,856 patients with cancer was estimated 67,169, at 0.013 (95% CI, 0.008–0.021). The highest suicide prevalence was related to gastrointestinal cancer, estimated at 0.204 (95% CI, 0.161–0.255). A gender-based meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of suicide/suicidal ideation was higher among men, estimated at 0.013 (95% CI, 0.008–0.023) compared with women, at 0.006 (95% CI, 0.002–0.017). Conclusion: Based on study results, suicide-prevention strategies should be aimed at patients younger than 40 years of age to effectively resolve their mental health disorders and promote their self-efficacy in successful management of the disease